Recreation Fee/Permit Program

The unique and diverse natural landscapes and world-class visitor facilities on BLM-managed lands are among America’s greatest treasures, and most of these lands and waters are open for recreational use. Fueled by growing Western populations, public demand for recreation on the public lands continues to increase. Ensuring that the public lands provide exceptional recreational facilities, services, and opportunities requires adequate investment of financial resources to respond to these increases in visitor demand. Recreation fee revenues are a critical source of funding.

Congress recognized the responsibility of visitors to contribute a greater portion of this funding when it first established broad fee authority over forty years ago. Today, recreation fee authority is authorized by the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (REA; Public Law 108-447) of 2004 . The rationale behind the authority is that those who use specific services and facilities should pay for a larger portion of the costs, rather than require taxpayers who never use the amenities to assume the entire cost.

REA grants recreation fee authority to the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to maintain and improve the quality of visitor amenities and services. REA authorizes the following fee categories:

Examples/Short Description : Certain special areas, such as off-highway vehicle areas, shooting ranges, and specialized trail systems. Authorizations for commercial use, competitive events, group activities, and recreation events. These permits are issued when extra measures are required for natural and cultural resource protection, or to provide for the health and safety of visitors. They may also be used to disperse recreation use or help ensure that the number of visitors does not exceed the capacity of the land. Do I need a pemit?

The collection of recreation fees also supports the Department of the Interior’s 2007-2012 Strategic Plan Performance Goal “to provide for and receive fair value in recreation”and conforms with the BLM's “Priorities for Recreation and Visitor Services” strategic plan. BLM recreation fee programs support the protection of natural resources, provide for public health and safety, facilitate access to the public lands, and enhance visitor amenities and services.

Click on the following links to access additional BLM recreation permit and fee information: